HypeLife Brands, a Los Angeles-based branding and marketing agency focused on helping brands engage Millennials, advocated earlier this week for the importance of branding as it relates to an individual brand's social media efforts. Put another way, according to HypeLife Brands, a brand can't have successful social media without first establishing a brand with which Millennials can connect and relate.
With the rapid ascension of social media and its eventual monetization through advertising, much has been made of the importance of
social media marketing, strategy, and proper tactics. But Curt Cuscino, Founder of HypeLife Brands, was quick to point out during the interview that while employing a sound social media engagement strategy is important, it's secondary to brand and the principles that serve as the foundation for that brand. "It's more than that, even," adds Cuscino. "Millennials must believe that your brand shares its values, that the things that define your brand's heart and core are honest and true.
"The key here is honesty. If Millennials believe in you, in your brand, then and only then can those social media strategies begin to pay off."
Key to understanding Cuscino's reasoning is first understanding the
mindset of Millennials, the group most coveted by advertisers of all shapes and sizes. This is a demographic that values passion, hard work, honesty and transparency – and it actively seeks these traits in the brands they choose to support. And there is perhaps no more organic process of brand support than social media, where Millennials can directly engage with their favorite brands, where a filtered photo of a brand's product or a mention on Twitter can actually serve as an extension of that particular user's persona.
The most engaged people on social media are telling a story about who they are through images or 140-character bursts of thought, and to let a brand's story seep into their own is a point of pride for Millennials. "They're proud to be associated with that brand in some way," says Cuscino. "That's the ultimate goal for a brand. To build a foundation that's so strong, one that Millennials believe in and champion so passionately, that they take to social media to tell others about it.
"Building a cohesive and consistent social media strategy is incredibly important, and it will go a long way to supporting a well-conceived brand. But at most, it's there to support. The focus, first and foremost, is the brand and the values that give it a heart."
##
HypeLife Brands is a leading branding and marketing agency focused on helping lifestyle brands engage Millennials (a.k.a. Generation Y). Key client industries include apparel, film and entertainment, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and world-changers. Founded in 2001, the agency has offices in Los Angeles and New York City.